A question for anyone who’s been to Auschwitz

[AI41]

Are you pleased you went, or do you regret going?

We’re going to Krakow on Boxing Day for a few days, and inevitably will need to discuss whether to visit Auschwitz. I’m going with two friends and obviously they can make their own decision. One of my friends is very interested in the war so I suspect he will want to go.

I was once told by someone who visited in the 80s that he regretted going because the horror has never left him. I am erring towards not going. But other people who’ve visited said to go and they don’t regret it at all.

I already feel horrified by the stories I’ve read and heard over the years, some of which I wish I hadn’t heard. I worry this would be the same.

We visited Kracow last November.

After some thought and discussion we decided not to go to Auschwitz. From what we’d heard it was a bit too organised, crowded for us. I’d have wanted a solitary quiet visit - but that wouldn’t work as so many want to go.

What we did was joined a walking tour of the Jewish quarter. This took an hour or so. A dozen of us walked round the area, had things explained at our own pace. We saw the ghetto, memorials walked across the bridge and saw the chairs. We bumped into a holocaust survivor. He does educational talks and visits. This part wasn’t planned.

Looking back this was, for us, a better and more educational experience. It was at a pace that allowed for reflection.

We also had a different guide who took us to the salt mines and then back round his home town, the steel works of novahuta. He showed us where the Solidarity riots were - which had happened when he was a child.

What ever you end up doing have a good trip.

Thank you.

I have been to two educational talks given by holocaust survivors. One when I was a child, and one last year as an adult. They certainly have stayed with me.

I’ve been a few times. Very moving , I’d say definitely go if you can.

I went with my oldest daughter a few years back. It was something my mother always wanted to do as a schoolfriend of hers sadly died there. Mum never made it but after she died, I used a bit of the money she left me to go.
My dd was pregnant at the time and she was incredibly moved by the baby clothes and the sheer realisation of what happened. It was the only place I've ever been that I absolutely cannot describe.. you know when people ask how a place was and ypu start to talk about it. It's impossible. Awful and horrific and distressing and all the things.
I want to take my youngest dd too - ds went on a school trip aged 15 which I think may have been too young

I believe it's something people should, if they can, do.

I wouldn't go, but it's a choice you must make for yourself.

With the greatest of respect OP, you don't. Seeing the shoes, the suitcases, the hair, the sheer number of chimneys still standing showing the immense size of the camps ... I think everyone in Europe should go at least once in their lives, and go to both camps. I went in my 20s with a group of friends, and we realised with horror that I would have been the only one of our group unlikely to have been held there had we lived in the 30s/40s.

Krakow is lovely, do enjoy it first.

I’ve only been to Buchenwald. I am very glad I went. I’m also Jewish.

I would say it is an important thing to do and I have no regrets about going. But it’s not a thing to do on a girly weekend break. I absolutely needed to go lie down in a dark room after. It wasn’t like I was ready for getting dressed up for dinner and out clubbing after. There was one particular part that really hit me. I just burst out sobbing and couldn’t catch my breath. We went with a German friend who had visited before a number of times. He wouldn’t even go in that section. I assume he’d seen it before and just didn’t feel like he wanted to do it again.

So yes, I’m very glad I went and I would take my older dc if we went again, but only if it fit with the tone of the trip. I don’t think you can just snap back into fun holiday mode after, so really just depends on the sort of trip you have planned.

We also went to the salt mines in krakow which were incredible- unbelievably massive and surreal! and part of the Jewish quarter and the prison there.
Krakow is a beautiful place all round

I don’t think I will ever visit any of the concentration and extermination camps. I read and watch a lot about WW2 and already get very upset when hearing about the camps. I think I’d find being so close to the horror absolutely crushing. And I’d possibly end up shouting at people taking selfies.

I don’t think I need to go there to feel the horrors and revulsion at what went on, though I know others feel differently. The holocaust is something I think about most days. And now the rabid anti-semitism that Jewish people are experiencing, in our country, is breaking my heart.

Yes about 15 years ago
I think everyone should go once
definitely don’t regret going

Thanks.

Yeah, I don’t want to see them. Imagining it is bad enough. I don’t think I’ll go.

Go, certainly, but go with respect, and if you have time read "Treblinka" which explains some of the background, and maybe even Chapter 23 of Len Deightons book Funeral in Berlin, just that chapter about one of the guards. Auswitz is famous but it was 2 camps, a labour camp and a concentration camp, Birkenau, but it wasn't an extermination camp like Treblinka, not a killing factory. Go, and see it from everyone's viewpoint, the Prisoner'sobviously, but the Guards', and the State Aparatus, and the German Civilians too. And ask yourself not what youd have done as a prisoner but also what youd ha e done " as one of the others. When I was there a woman asked " why didnt someone stop it', as if a civilian could have, as if the Jewish People didnt try fighting ( you dont hear of that) , as if the whole British Empire, the United States and Russia were not trying to.Come away chastened, and remember that it happened again in Yugoslavia in the 1980s and is happening through Africa now, at this moment, today. The Germans had it Industrialised, but its happening on an organised fashion throughout a lot of the world today, and we know and we are helpless to stop it.

Thank you. Me and my friend have went abroad on Boxing Day for the last couple of years, and this year he has also invited another friend. We’re planning to do the salt mines, the hot springs, and go to restaurants and bars.

My partner has been before but he didn’t do Auschwitz so can’t give an opinion on that.

Sums up a lot of my feelings.

We went to Belsen a number of years ago. It was truly horrifying, but also extremely moving. I think now more than ever it is important to keep the memories of the awfulness of it alive. Sadly, we seem to still sometimes forget that people are people and that can lead down a dangerous path.

This isn't about seeking 'experiences'. It's about learning about our heritage, and - in these cases - the horrors of it.

Dismissing it as if it were a holiday day out is totally demeaning as well as ignorant.

I went on a school trip at 14. It has always stayed with me, I am glad I went because I don't think it's really comprehensible until you do. I don't think I'd go back, once was enough, but if my kids aren't taken with school then I would probably take them. Same with the killing fields in Cambodia.

I think she is saying that it’s not a holiday day out so not to do it and enjoy the holiday instead.

I'd be very torn. I'd have nightmares and never stop thinking about it, I know that sounds incredibly selfish but I'm not sure how it would help anyone for me to end up like that

Just to present a different view, I decided not to go, for me it was too difficult, I know and understand the horrors that people went through and I have my own reasons why I could not go, I do not regret the decision and after speaking to H who went and others who went with him they agreed that for me it was the right decision not to go.

Pleased doesn’t feel the right word but it is certainly worth visiting.

It’s touched me to my soul. People can’t be allowed to forget the horrors of it. It must never be allowed to happen again and part of that is by ensuring as many people see it as possible.

I’ve been trying to build up my courage to pay my respects and go to one. I do not want to go as a tourist or be around tourists but just to pay my respects.

sounds a bit silly but have you seen the Jesse eisenberg film a real pain? I have seen it and wept and even that has stayed with me. Sadly what also has stayed with me were other people in the cinema watching it at the same time as me.

Op ive been to krakow many times and never been. I think it would be too upsetting and i know what happened i couldn't imagine going. I actually find it weird people want to go. I read some people on a review site last week complaining about the lack of cafes...its not disneyland.

Lots of other things to do in krakow....salt mine is a must. You can also visit the jewish area and schidlers factory.

I think everyone should go once. It is harrowing and the experience has never left
me, but it is important.